Container



July 26, 1960 .R; L. kuss CONTAINER Filed Oct. 3, 1958 FIE-1.5.

R on. mu WK L H P A R ATTORNEYS CONTAINER Ralph L. Kuss, Findlay, Ohio,assignor to R. L. Kuss & Company, Inc., Findlay, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Filed Oct. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 7fi5,100

3 Claims. (Cl. 22914) This invention relates to an improved shippablecontainer.

The present invention provides a container especially adapted forflowable materials such as liquids or powders, and particularly forliquids such as syrups, chemicals, oil and acids. Most acids today areshipped in heavy bottles carried in Wooden frames. The bottles aresubject to breakage, of course, and the composite container is bulky andheavy, thus adding materially to the cost of shipping. These containersare also expensive to manufacture and costly to ship from the bottlemanufacturer to the acid manufacturer because the empty bottles stillconsume the same amount of space as when full. This problem also existsif the bottles are shipped back to the acid manufacturer from thecustomer.

In contrast, a container according to the invention basically includes afoldable carton and an oversized plastic bag, both of which can beshipped in a flat state to substantially reduce shipping costs and setup for filling by unskilled labor. The new bag is made of a suitablematerial that can withstand attack from the material it carries and issubstantially unbreakable. If

the container is struck with a hard blow or dropped, the carton willwithstand a substantial initial impact and the oversized bag, which isnot completely filled with material, can also withstand a substantialblow without breakmg.

The new container is also relatively inexpensive because it is made ofinexpensive materials and is relatively simple to manufacture, requiringsubstantially no heavy machinery and involving relatively simpleprocessing steps.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the invention to provide animproved shippable container which can be shipped in a flat state whennot filled with material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shippable containerwhich can withstand severe impact forces without breaking.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shippablecontainer which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference beingmade to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is an exploded viewin perspective showing the various parts of a container according to theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a View in perspective with parts broken away, showing aflexible bag disposed in a carton and attached to an upper wall thereof;and

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. l, a shippable container according to the inventionincludes an outer carton 11 having side walls 12, a bottom 13, and flaps14, all of which can be made of a single sheet of any suitable,reasonably rigid material, such as corrugated board. A separatereinforcing bottom sheet 15 can be employed to provide 2 added strengthand shock resistance for the carton 11. If desired, the separate bottomsheet can be made a part of a liner 16 which fits within the carton 11and includes side walls 17, a first top 18, and a second top 19. Thefirst top 18 has side tabs 20 which are insertable between .the opposedside walls 17 of the liner and the side walls 12 of the carton. The top18 also has spaced slots 21, which are preferably at the cornersthereof, and a hole 22 with diametrically opposed notches 23 is locatedbetween the slots but offset to a straight line between the slots 21.The second top 19 has an end tab 24 insertable between one of the sidewalls 17 of the liner 16 and one of the side walls 12 of the carton 1'1,and also has a hole 25 which is aligned with the hole 22 when both ofthe tops 18 and 19 are closed. The liner is preferably made slightlyshallower than the outer carton in which it is contained so that, whenthe tops 18 and 19 are folded down and the closure hereinafterdescribed'is put in place, the underface of the carton flaps 14 will liein a plane confining the liner against movement.

A flexible bag 26 is provided which is inserted within the liner 16 andis oversized with respect to the liner and the carton 11 so that it isfully supported on the bottom sheet 15, and the side walls 17 of theliner '16. With the bag oversized, it cannot be filled to a greaterextent than the volume defined by the carton 11 which enables the bag tomore readily withstand impact forces during handling. Thus there are nostretching forces exerted on the bag material and the weight of thecontents is taken by the carton 11.

The bag 26 is preferably made of two or more heavy sheets 27 of the sameor different suitable flexible material, such as polyethylene which canbe two-ply or more for greater strength and integrity, but in any casemust be inert to, or able to withstand attack on the material carriedwithin. The sheets, which are of similar size and shape, are heat sealedor otherwise suitably joined along all four edges and a hole 29 is madein-one of the sheets 27 near the upper edge thereof. The filling openingfor the bag is formed by hole 29 as hereinafter described.

Two annular walls 30 and 31 (Fig. 3), preferably of the same material asthe bag 26, are joined together at their inner and outer peripheries toform an annular space therebetween, and are further joined at theirinner peripheries to the periphery of the hole 29. Into the envelopethus formed an annular flange 32 forming the stationary portion of afilling device is placed in the annular space before the walls 39 and 31are joined. A suitable removable closure device 33 is removably disposedin the hole 29 and cooperates with the flange 32 to complete thestructure through which the bag 26 may be filled and emptied.

In assembly, the liner 16 is placed in the carton 11 with the bottomedges of the side walls 17 supported on the bottom sheet 15 and bottom13 to thereby pro vide support for the first and second tops 18 and 19.With the tops open, the bag 26 isv placed Within the space formed by theside walls 17 of the linear 16 with upper corners 34- of the bag locatedunder the slots 21. The flange 32 of the filling device is then turnedat an angle to the first top 18 and inserted through the hole 22 and thenotches 23. After being pulled through the hole and the notches, theflange is turned parallel to the first top 18 and cannot be pulled backthrough because the flange 32 is larger than the hole 22. The side wallof the bag is thus anchored in an open position separated from the otherside wall. Before the first top 18 is closed, the upper corners 34 ofthe bag 26 are pulled through the slots 21 and frictionally engagedtherein. The corners of the bag are thus separated from the anchoredcentral portion of the side wall which has been fixed by flange 32. Withthe first top sheet moved to its horizontal position the second top 19is then closed which enables it to press downwardly on the corners 34extending above the first top 18 and thereby more securely hold thesecorners in the slots 21'. The second top 19 also adds overall rigidityto the container 11. If desired, a puff of air can be blown into theempty container to ex pand it prior to filling.

With both tops closed and the closure device 33 removed, the bag 26 isfilled with the desired material through the hole 29. The sheets 27forming the bag are maintained in spaced relationship because thecorners 34 are held in the slots 21 and the hole 29' in the sheet 27 isaligned with the hole 252 in the first top 18 which separates the sheets27 forming the bag 26. In thismanner, the oversized bag 26 can be filledwithliquid or powder without the possibility of doubling over andenabling only a portion to be filled. After the'bag- 26- is filled, theclosure device 33 is replaced and theflaps 14 are closedand sealed torender the carton 1 1 ready for shipment.

It will be seen that the carton, the liner, and the bag can be shippedin a flattened state from the container manufacturer to, say, amanufacturer of acid to maintain shipping costs at a minimu'rn. Thecontainer can then be quickly assembled by unskilled persons and filled.The cubical configuration of the container, plus the fact that there isno extended spout, enables a. maximum volume of liquid to be shipped ina given space. Further, if the container is dropped, the carton willabsorb the initial shock subjected thereto and the oversized bag willwithstand further shock even if the carton breaks because the bag isonly partially filled. The new container is inexpensive and can beeconomically disposed of after use, so that it represents a single tripcontainer in contrast to the expensive returnable carboys that are nowused.

It will be readily seen that the invention basically corn.- prises wallmeans comprising a carton, an over-sized flexible bag disposed in saidcarton, a top wall supported by said carton, said top Wall having meansfor engaging spaced; preferably corner, portions of the bag andhavingother means for engaging a side wall of the bag defining an openingtherein to hold the side walls of the bag apart.

Many modifications of the above specific form of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art, and can be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention as described in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A container comprising a carton, a bag having upper corners and anopening in a side wall thereof, means forming a flange around saidopening, a top wall supported by said container having spaced means neardiagonally opposite corners of said top Wall for frictionally engagingand supporting the upper corners of said bag and having means nearanother corner of said top wall for engaging said flange means andsupporting an intermediate portion of said bag with the opening in saidbag aligned with a hole in said top wall, whereby said bag can be filledwith material substantially equal in volume to the space defined by saidcarton.

2. A container comprising wall means defining bottom and side walls, atop wall supported by said wall means and having a hole near one cornerand slots near adjacent corners, a flexible bag resting on the bottomWall of said carton, said bag having upper corners frictionally receivedin said slots and" having a filling opening in a side; wall" thereof,and means associated with said filling opening; for supporting a portionof said bag with said opening aligned with the hole in the top wall.

3. A container comprising wall means defining bottom and sidewalls, atop wall supported by said'wall means and having a hole near one cornerand slots near ad j'aeent corners, a flexible bag resting on the bottomwall of saidcarto'n, said bag having. upper corners frictionallyreceived in said slots and having a filling opening in a side wallthereof, means associated with said filling opening: for supporting oneside wall' portion of said bag with said opening aligned with the holein the top wall, and cover means disposable over said top wall to coversaid bag corner portions and said filling opening.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,365,159 Walton Dec. 19; 1944 2,412,544 Waters "a Dec. 10, 19462,454,919 Hagan Nov. 30', 1948 2,801,577 Ingham Aug, 6, 1957

